Roundup: OT Drama For Dijon, Minsk

EuroChallenge sides JDA Dijon and Tsmoki Minsk were involved on Monday, with mixed results, in two highly dramatic encounters that were resolved after overtime.

Dijon clinched their first victory in the French Pro A by prevailing 99-97 over Nancy at home after an extra period, while Minsk fell 113-112 to visiting Krasny Oktyabr after 45 minutes, in what could remain as the highest-scoring game in the VTB United league all season.

In Dijon, the home team jumped to a 28-8 lead at the first buzzer on the back of some outstanding defense that enabled them t

Terrance Campabell helped Dijon to their first win of the new season

o run in the open floor and shoot at 70% from the field early on.

Nancy though established their dominance on the glass and improved dramatically their shot selection to pour in 33 points in the second quarter and reduce the gap to only two (43-41) at the half-time buzzer.

The guests went ahead in the third and looked set to celebrate a hard-earned road victory as they took an 83-80 lead with just over two seconds remaining in the fourth frame.

Andre Harris however thought otherwise - Dijon's American player was fouled on a two-point attempt with 2.3 seconds on the last possession, sunk the first free throw and then missed the second and grabbed his own rebound to send the game into overtime with a buzzer-beating bank shot.

T.J. Campbell put the hosts ahead 99-97 from the foul line with 2.1 left in the extra period and Nancy's Kenny Grant missed a desperation triple almost from half-court for the home crowd to erupt in jubilation.

Winger Mikal Riley paved the way for Dijon with team-highs in points (17), rebounds (6) and assists (5) while Campbell and Anthony Dobbins finished with 16 points apiece and Harris added 14 points for the winners.

The other French EuroChallenge team, Cholet, are playing their second game in the Pro A Regular Season on Tuesday night, away at Limoges.

Aliaksei Trastsinetski played a part in Minsk's amazing comeback effort but it was not to be for his team

Meanwhile in Minsk, the home team were left with no reward for their titanic effort to turn around a 15-point deficit within less than seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Krasny Oktyabr's Randy Culpepper exploded for 41 points and gave the guests an 87-73 lead with 6:28 remaining to the end of regulation but Minsk's Keith Benson and Aliaksei Trastsinetski fuelled a ferocious comeback by the hosts.

Branko Mirkovic came up with a steal and passed the ball to Vincent Hunter, who was fouled and tied the scores at 98 with 50 seconds still remaining in the fourth.

Both teams wasted their last chances to win the game in regulation and although Minsk scored the first four points in overtime, they went without a score in the final 70 seconds and the Russian side escaped from Belarus with the 113-112 victory.

Another club that will participate in the EuroChallenge, Triumph Lyubersty, played their first game in the VTB United league on Monday and also suffered a loss, 95-76 to Astana in Kazakhstan, despite a promising start that saw them lead their hosts 18-15 at the end of the first quarter.

Notwithstanding the loss in their season opener, new Triumph coach Deividas Rincevicius must have been pleased to see an excellent display by former Serbian international Milovan Rakovic, who collected a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

Also on Monday night, BC Zepter Vienna used a strong third quarter, in which they outscored ece bulls Kapfenberg 24-10, to turn around a five-point deficit from the first half and cruise to an 89-82 road victory.

Nenad Sulovic led the Viennese side with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds, Predrag Miletic chipped in with 16 points and Arnas Labuckas finished with 15 points and seven boards.

Vienna, who will play in the EuroChallenge for the first time in their history, are top of the Austrian Admiral Bundesliga standings with three wins in as many games.